Salvatore Giunta

Salvatore Augustine Giunta (; born January 21, 1985) is a former United States Army soldier and the first living person since the Vietnam War to receive the United States Armed Forces' highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor. Giunta was cited for saving the lives of members of his squad on October 25, 2007, during the War in Afghanistan. He left the United States Army in June 2011.

Early life and education Giunta was born in Clinton, Iowa, on January 21, 1985, to an Italian American family. Giunta grew up in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha. His parents, Steven, a medical equipment technician, and Rosemary, a preschool teacher, live in Hiawatha. He has two younger siblings, Mario and Katie. He was the first in his immediate family to serve in the armed forces since his grandparents emigrated from Italy. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and worked in a support role for members of his unit then deployed in Afghanistan.

In 2007, Giunta was stationed at Firebase Vegas in the Korengal Valley—an area about near the Afghanistan–Pakistan border—which the soldiers had nicknamed the Valley of Death. 1st Platoon was tasked with providing protective cover and interdicting enemy forces from a nearby ridge.

Medal of Honor action Shortly after nightfall on October 25, 2007, rifle team leader Giunta and the rest of the seven troops of 1st Platoon had just finished a day-long overwatch of 2nd and 3rd Platoon in the valley below. Although dark, there was sufficient moonlight that night vision equipment was not needed. They were returning to Combat Outpost Vimoto and Korengal Outpost. They walked about apart through the thin holly forest, along the Gatigal Spur of Honcho Hill at about elevation.

Within of leaving their position, 10 to 15 insurgents ambushed the main body of the squad from cover and concealment only about away, The ambushing force was armed with AK-47 assault rifles, 10 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, and 4 belt-fed PKM machine guns. They fired an unusually high proportion of tracer rounds. Giunta described it later:

quote|There were more bullets in the air than stars in the sky. A wall of bullets at every one at the same time with one crack and then a million other cracks afterwards. They're above you, in front of you, behind you, below you. They're hitting in the dirt early. They're going over your head. Just all over the place. They were close—as close as I've ever seen. He was followed by SPC Frank Eckrode, squad leader Erick Gallardo, and then Giunta, who was then a specialist. PFC Kaleb Casey and Garrett Clary followed Giunta. A 13-man Headquarters (HQ) unit led by Lt. Brad Winn, including a five-man gun team from weapons squad, along with a nurse who volunteered for the mission, followed immediately behind them. When the Taliban opened fire, Brennan was struck by eight rounds and Eckrode was hit by four rounds. Unable to advance, he fell back to join Giunta's Bravo Team. While backpedaling and firing at the same time, he fell and was in the same moment struck in the helmet by an AK-47 round. The round penetrated his helmet but only grazed his scalp. Giunta recognized that the extremely heavy tracer fire was coming not just from his west but from the north as well, a classic L-shaped ambush that threatened to flank the squad. He recalled from basic training that to survive an ambush like this he had only one choice: advance on the enemy. He ordered Casey and Clary to pull back a few steps to prevent the Taliban from flanking them. The second Afghan dropped Brennan and fled.

After reaching Brennan, Giunta pulled him back towards the rest of the squad and cover, comforted him, and examined him for wounds in the dark. Brennan was grievously hurt. Gallardo told Giunta later on, "You don't understand ... but what you did was pretty crazy. We were outnumbered. You stopped the fight. You stopped them from taking a soldier." Eckrode said of Giunta, "For all intents and purposes, with the amount of fire that was going on in the conflict at the time, he shouldn't be alive." "I did what I did because in the scheme of painting the picture of that ambush, that was just my brush stroke. That's not above and beyond. I didn't take the biggest brush stroke, and it wasn't the most important brush stroke. Wearing the Medal of Honor is like a slap in the face." He received the medal from President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House on November 16, 2010. All of his surviving squad members also attended the ceremony.

On July 5, 2017, during a dedication ceremony for the Medal of Honor Walkway, located outside of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Headquarters building in Vicenza, Italy, Salvatore Giunta chose to give his Medal of Honor to the brigade. He stated "I want this to stay here in Vicenza, Italy with the 173rd to the men and women that earn this every single day through their selflessness and sacrifice."

Addressing the attention he has received due to the medal, he stated:

Giunta is the fourth Medal of Honor recipient from the War in Afghanistan, after U.S. Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti, and U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert James Miller, Giunta and his wife moved to Colorado where he studied at Colorado State University. Giunta has also written an autobiography titled Living with Honor, published by Simon & Schuster.

On December 31, 2010, Giunta was invited by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to attend the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square. There, he pressed a button upon the start of a sixty-second countdown to initiate the ball drop.

On February 6, 2011, Giunta was honored on the field and via international television broadcast at the beginning of the second half of Super Bowl XLV, which the Green Bay Packers eventually won over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As of June 2014, Giunta lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Awards and decorations Giunta's military decorations include:

Medals and ribbons

Right breastLeft breastItalian Military Parachutist BadgeArmy Presidential Unit Citation w/ 2 OLCArmy Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ OLCCombat Infantryman BadgeMedal of HonorBronze StarPurple HeartMeritorious Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary MedalGlobal War on Terrorism Service MedalArmy NCO Professional Development RibbonArmy Service RibbonArmy Overseas Service RibbonNATO Medal for Service in ex-YugoslaviaBasic Parachutist InsigniaExpert marksmanship badge for rifle

Medal of Honor citation

His publications